Grab a Bike and Head to Work Friday

On Friday May 16th don’t be too surprised if you see a decrease in the amount of wheels on the road as people leave their cars at home for the day and bust out of their garages on two wheels.

It’s the 11th annual Bike to Work Day, which is part of National Bike Month. As part of the day, Bike Pittsburgh will be giving away breakfast and coffee to riders.

“It gives people an opportunity to try a new way of getting to work and it gives bike commuters an opportunity to celebrate being one of the many bike commuters and meet a lot of new bike commuters,” said Ngani Ndimbie, Communications Manager for Bike Pittsburgh.

Bike Pittsburgh will set up five “commuter cafes” to give away breakfast in Market Square, Schenley Plaza, the North Side, South Side Works and Friendship Park.

On average, only 1.4% of Pittsburghers travel to work by bike, but last year on Bike to Work Day over 600 people peddled into work, and this year Bike Pittsburgh is expecting even more people to participate.

Ndimbie says that with 63 miles of bike lanes and shared road markings, Pittsburgh has improved the way they treat bikers, but there is always room for improvement.

“As we plan streets and as we plan neighborhoods, making sure that neighborhoods and roads are safe for all users and so thinking about how people on bikes travel on those streets and making those routes and roads safe for cyclists is something that Pittsburgh can always continue to do and get better at,” said Ndimbie.

For first time bikers, Ndimbie suggests that they plan their route out in advance, leave early or consider joining one of Bike Pittsburgh’s bike trains.